Aniline injector



July l5, 1924. 1,501,568

T. MIDGLEY. JR

ANILINE INJECTOR 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 15

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' THOMAS MIDGLY, JR., O DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL MOTORS RESEARCH CORPORATION, F DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE.

ANILINE INJEGTOR.

Application illed October V)15, 1920. Serial No. 417,162.

` To all whom t may concern.'

l Be it known that I, THOMAS MIDGLEY, Jr.,

y a citiz'en of the United States of America,

taking place in internal combustion engines under certain conditions, frequently referred to as duev to premature firing of the fuel mixture; and to apparatus suitable for car.

rying out the process.

In application, Serial No. 281,741, filed March 10th, 1919, vby Charles F. Kettering and Thomas Midgley, jr., there are set out certain facts, discovered by the applicants concerning this knocking. These facts demonstrate that knocking is not due to premature iiring but is a function'of the fuel used.

As stated in the said application, such fuel as is commonly used in internal combustion enginesv has what has been designated as critical compression pressure. That is, when a fuel is .used 1n internal combustion engines, there is an engine compression pressure which cannot be exceeded without thev development vof the knocking or] pinking.

If-the compression pressure of the engine exceeds thecritical compression of the fuel, the knock will always develop. The said application also indicates that the critical compressionpressure of ai given fuel may be raised by having present therein during combustion of the fuel a small amount of one or more of certain substances, themselves not necessarily fuels, and called antiknock compounds or substances in -the 'specication The preferred method of accomplishing this result is by dissolving these pseudmhomologues, ethyliodine, iodine, etc.

It has now been discovered that the lpre- .vention of knock may be accomplished not only bydissolving such substances in. the

fuel but by mixin them withthe fuel mixture 'at any lperio place.

This addition of the anti-knock materials before combustion takes to the fuel is'accomplished preferably injection or atomization of the vmateria into the current of fuel-and air flowing through the intake manifold of the engine, althou h the desired result may be accomplished y injecting the anti-knock material into the combustion chamber. immediately before combustion takes place.

One of the principal advantages of this method over that of adding the anti-knock to the liquid fuel in the tank is that the addition need only be made under certain con# ditions.

With ordinary fuels, and operating under ordinary conditions, the knock usually will not be continual but willoccur only under -certain circumstances. Anti-knock material,

therefore, is needed only `at such times. It naturally' follows that, by using anti-knock material only when needed, considerable sav-- ing is effected. In fact, by using this process the amount of anti-knock material usually suflcient to prevent knock is only' a small p ropor-tion of the amount used when dissolving -it.in the fuel prior to orafterthe fuel has been placed in the fuel reservoir.

Another advantage lies in the fact that by following the present `method, no precautions have to be taken to insure that the antiknock material remains in solution. With some of the materials used, no difficulty. is' experienced in the dissolving or .the retaining in solution of the materials in the fuel, but with. others'there is considerable diiiiculty, especially in cold weather.

'The condition under which the fuel knock usually occurswhen using the grade of fuel gasoline most readily obtained at the present time, is when there'is `a low vacuum 1n the intake manifold, as at such times the com- .pression pressure of the engine is` greatest and approaches the Vcalculated compression pressure. Most of the present` day automobile' engines are designed to give a compression pressure of about seventy ounds per square inch while the ordinary fue s have a critical compression of between fifty and sixty pounds, so that in such engines it is only at times'when the vacuum in the intake manifold is lowg that the compression res- .sureexceedsnlthe critical compressione the fuelnl Accordingly in the present rocess,

bg; the

an apparatus such as is described and shown herein althoughit should be noted that theV resent invention will be apparent from the .A

ollowing description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein preindicated at 120 in Fig. 2, the cut-olf valve at ferred embodiments of the present invention are clearly illustrated.-

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of one form of antiknock injector showing the means for regulation and illustrated as being attached.' to the intake manifold. b Fig. 2 is an elevation cfa second forlnof injector.

injector and its control valve shown in Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the`- .injector shown in Fig. 2. v

In the drawings, 1() is a conventional representation of the intake manifold of a Qmulti-cylinder internal-combustion engine, while 11 is a conventional representation of a carburetor for supplying fuelair mixture tothe engine. The usual throttleyalve and operating lever for controlling the entra ce of fuel-air mixture to the engine is ind ated by the numeral 12. This operatin lever is attachedto rod 13 extending throug suitable connections to the fuel regu'lating leverf(not shown) upon the steeringwheel. Y The injector consists of a tank for containing the vsupply of anti-knock material, a suitable regulating valve, means for admitting airfor atomization of the 'anti-knock materiaLmeans for operating the valve, and a `conduit leading to the engine.

In the form of injector shown in Figs.' 1 and 3, the supply tank is designated by nu'- meral 20 and consists of a container of suitable size, having a cut-oli' valve 21 suitably located in its bottom and 'controlled by a knurled portion 22, sothat the injector may be rendered inoperative when desirable. The base of the container 20 also carries a passage-way. 25, controlled by means of valve 26 operated by a suitable lever 27. The lever 27 is connected by a rod -28 to the throttle control rod 13 in any suitable fashion, as by means of 'the 'clamp 29. j

Leading into the passageway-'25 below valve 26 are one or more air passages 30 for admitting, -alcng with4 the anti-knock mateial a small amount of air whichfserves to terial into thev form of a spray which readily mixes with the passing current of fuel `and air mixture in the intake manifold. This mixture of anti-knockY material and air flows from'passage-way 25vthrough apipe 31 into the intake manifold. l t

Fig. 3 1s a vertical .Section thrugh.. the,

atomize or finely divide the anti-knock ma' VThe form of injector shown in Fig. 2 corresponds to the form shown in Figs.. 1 and 3,but-'is rovided with a sight` feed which enables tlIie operation of the device to be -more easily controlled.

.InFig 4 there is shown a vertical section of such an injector with an additional element which will be hereinafter described.

In this form of injector the supply tank is 121, and its knurled head at 122. The other parts corresponding to similar parts in Figs. 1 and 3 are the passage-way 125, the regulating valve-126 with its operating lever 127, the air inlets 130 and the pipe 131 leading toA the intake manifold. The regulating valve is controlled through rod 28 connected to'throttle` control rod 13 by a clamp 129, as in the first described form of indicator.

This second form of indicator, however, differs from the first form in that it is supplied with a si ht feed tube 132 and in` that the air inlets a mitair to a second sight feed tube 133 where it enters tube 131 along with anti-knock material dropped from the lower end of passage-way 125.

The operation of this form of injector is substantially the same as the operation of the rst form and will be described below.

The form of injector shown in Fig. 4 is providedwith an additional tube 150 which leads into the passage-way 125 above the regulating valve 126, and which is open at its upper end and extends substantially `to the level of liquid in supply :tank 120.

The opera-tion of the injectors is as follows:

As stated above, the knock usually occurs when the vacuum in the intake manifold is low. This low vacuum Ygenerally accompanies the opening of the throttle valve for fuel'. It is at such times that the injection of anti-knock material usually becomes necessary. Accordingly the regulating valves 26 and 126 are coupled to the rod which operates the throttle valve and the operating arms '27 and 127. These valves are preferably so positioned that a slight movement of the throttle valve does not open the valves 26 and 126 to such an extent as to allow the anti-knock material to flow into the intake manifold. When', however, the throttle v valve is open to a Lgreater degree the regulattirely closed in ordinary running position of the throttle 12. In such cases it will be advisable to attach a small spring to arm 27 to retain the valve 26 in closed position until operated by the clamp 29.

To provide for a sudden opening of thel throttle, such as in veryquick acceleration from low speeds and such other times that it may be necessary to open the throttle quickly, there is provided a means for allowing the accumulation of a small amount of antiknock material in the injector such as is shown in Fig. 4. This means is a' small standpipe or manometer tube 150. As will readilyV be seen When the valve 126 is closed, without closing valve 121, the anti-knock material will continue to drip into the sight feed chamber 132 and will run into pipe 150 until the hydrostatic pressure in this tube just `balances the hydrostatic pressure through the supply tube. Accordin ly, when the valve 126 is opened suddenly a er remaining in closed position for some time, the immediate injection of a .considerable quantity or slug of the anti-knock materiall will take place.

It should be noted that wherever the expressions low vacuum and hi h vacuum occur in the specificationand c aims, these refer to the vacuums correspondingto low .and high columns of mercury respectively,

- That is, a low vacuum is one which is sufiicient to lift 'a column of mercury only a short distance while a high vacuum is one which Will lift a column to a greater height.

While only those anti-knock materials have been mentioned in this application which were mentioned in the prior application before referred to, nevertheless it is contemplated that any anti-knock material may be used in the process, although the specific apparatus described is intended particularly for such anti-knock materials as may be converted to liquid form.

While the process and forms of mechanism herein shown and described, constituteV preferred embodiments of the invention, it

is to be understood that other forms might` be adopted, all coming within the'scope of the claims which follow.A f j What I claim is as follows 1. The process of preventing knock in internal-combustion engines which comprises adding aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives containing an NH2 group to the fuelair mixture only at such times as the actual compression pressure equals or exceeds the critical compression of the fuel.

2.` The process of preventing knock 1n 'internal-combustion engines which comprises adding aniline to the fuel-air mixture only at such times as the a tual compression pressure equals or excee pression of the fuel. I

3. The process of preventing knock 1n s the critical com cal compression of the fuel and increasing the amount of aniline added as the compression pressure increases.

5. The process of preventing knock in internal combustion engines which comprises admitting to the fuel-air mixture an antiknock material in a relatively small proportion when the actual compression lpressure equals or exceeds the critical compression of the fuel; and controlling the flow of such material so as to admit a slug-of a considerable quantity when the actual compression begins to exceed the critical compression ofr the fuel, then continuing the flow at a lower rate.

. 6. The process of operating an internalcombustion engine which comprises feeding a fuel to the engine; adding a knock suppressing substance to the fuel; initiating the'addition of the substance by automatically adding a relatively large uantity thereof to the fuel; and burning t e fuel in the engine in the presence of the substance.

7. The process of operating an internalcombustion engine which comprises feeding a fuel to the engine; feeding a knock suppressing substance to the engine; automatically increasing the quantity of substance supplied to above the normal feeding rate during a short period of engine operation; and burning the fuel in the engine.

8. The process of o erating an internalcombustion engine 'a a ted to operate at compressions above an below. the critical compression pressure of the fuel used which comprises operating the engine at a low compression on the fuel without the addition thereto of a substance which revents the fuel knock; operating the engine at a higher compression on the fuel while adding to the fuel a substance which revents fuel knock; and initiating the ad ition of the substance tothe fuel by adding thereto a relatively large quantity' of the substance.

9. In` a fuel feeding mechanism for internal-combustion engines the combination of a fuel conduit; of means for feeding a knock suppressing substance to the conduit;,/jand instrumentalities for collecting a relatively large quantity of substance and for. discharging said quantity at a higher rate than during norma operation of the feeding means.

10. In a fuel .feeding mechanism for inmixture; and means for addin tothe fuel 'teruel-combustion engines,lthe oomliinetion In testimony whereof I hereto ax myl of means for forming a combustible fuel signature vmixture during a part only o the pei'od W-t THOMAS MIDGLEY? JR of engine o eration a material adaptedl to- 1 Isses' E S prevent fue knock, and' fol`- adding a rela- OBERT MHH l tively lar quantity of material'-when the ALNA C' LEHMAN- edditon t ereoi is initiated.y 

